Canada home sales low for third month in a row

For the third month in a row in July, sales of existing Canadian homes dropped, data showed on Monday. These results come as fewer homes were sold in Vancouver and elsewhere in British Columbia, some of the hottest markets in the country.

Regardless, home prices kept increasing, lifted by a surge in prices in Vancouver and Toronto, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) said.

Seasonally-adjusted property sales fell 1.3 percent from June to July. Sales had fallen in just over half of all markets in July, led by the Greater Vancouver area and the Fraser Valley in British Columbia. Sales in these regions have dropped by 21.5 percent and 28.8 percent respectively since peaking in February.

"It's still a two-horse race in the Canadian housing market if you lump in the areas surrounding Vancouver and Toronto," Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, wrote in a note.

The number of new listings on the market increased by 1.2 percent. This has helped the sales-to-new listings fall to 61.6 percent after peaking at 65.3 percent in May.
 

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SOURCE: [Reuters]